


The Adventures of a Tiny Metal Bender

by lancer365



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Drama, Family, Gen, Happy, Light-Hearted
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-03
Updated: 2018-02-26
Packaged: 2018-02-28 01:35:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2714105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lancer365/pseuds/lancer365
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After bringing a young Kuvira into her home, Suyin finds that the little girl is a difficult handful to deal with, constantly putting her newly acquired parenting skills to the test. Yet, she can't deny that a loving bond is beginning to form between them. (Redone) (New Chapter)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_**The Adventures of a Tiny Metal-Bender** _

 

152 AG

 

Kuvira sat up in her bed glancing around the dark room, holding the stuffed bagermole Suyin had given her close to her chest. Less than an hour ago, Suyin had put the very reluctant little girl to sleep. But minutes later, Kuvira found her eyes opening; the energy inside her bustling and rejuvenated.

Throwing her short legs over the side of the bed, she hopped down, sliding the stuffed animal off with her. Defiantly crossing the room in her green shorts and white t-shirt, she headed to the door and reached up to grab for the handle; missing it on the first and second try as her eyes adjusted to the night. Standing on her tippy-toes, she hooked her palm around the silver knob and turned.

A creak and groan sounded from the door’s hinges as she opened it gently, poking her head out to peer down the dark hallway with anxious eyes. Swallowing her fear, she took her first steps into the hall, before standing in place to look up at the walls that towered over her. Focusing straight ahead, her eyes set her destination—the staircase at the end of the hall; a single light left on at the top. She moved forward, feeling the cold touch of the marble floor under her feet, that sent chills through her with each step.

She glanced side to side, the dark corridors of the house seeming to hold as much tension in the silence as no man's land on war’s battlefield. Shadows cast on the walls by the sconces, artifacts, and abstract metal sculptures, took on the creepy forms only a child's mind could imagine.

As the shadowy “monsters", illuminated in a dim glow, peeled themselves from the walls and moved closer, Kuvira’s pace hastened, moving her small feet faster and faster; her stride too much for her short legs to keep up with. Before long, her legs entangled themselves, tripping the little girl in the process. Colliding with the floor, her knees hit first, then her jaw crashed into something plushy.

Shaking off the slight daze of pain, Kuvira picked herself up, and looked down at the stuffed animal staring back. She had been saved by Mr. bagermole, and this wasn’t the first time. After another second, she stood and without any hesitance took off for the staircase once again. This time she made it.

Arriving to the top of the staircase, she stopped and looked down to the bottom. That was her new destination.

She grabbed onto the rail, tentatively moving each foot down step-by-step, dragging the bagermole as it flopped behind her.

Reaching the bottom, Kuvira turned down another hallway, seeing light coming from what she knew was Suyin's office. Her pace quickened as she ran closer, eager to see if the woman was indeed still awake.

Suyin always put the baby then her to bed early, even though it was no secret that she would often stay awake into the early hours of the morning, working through contracts and other agreements.

Kuvira peeked through the door, seeing only a partial image of an empty desk. “Suyin?” She whispered.

Escaping the darkness, Kuvira opened the cracked door enough for her to squeeze through. Looking over the room, the little girl's mouth broke into a smile as she spotted a sleeping Suyin lying sprawled on the couch, exhausted from the day's work. She ran into the space between the table and Suyin, taking notice of a silver pen on the ground, resting just below the woman's dangling hand. Picking it up, she dropped the bagermole, looking at the shiny metal in awe before turning her attention back to Suyin.

"Pssssst…" Kuvira poked the woman in the arm only to receive no response. "Pssssssssst…" She grabbed Suyin’s hand, only to watch it slip from her grasp and swing back to its limp position.

After the second futile attempt, she decided to take more drastic measures. Putting the end of the pen in her mouth, Kuvira climbed up onto Suyin, pushing a hand into the woman's side for leverage as she reached a foot up to step on Suyin's thigh.

As Suyin began to stir with a groan and mumble, the girl managed to make her way into her lap and sit up.

Suyin blinked, turning her head as her tired eyes adjusted to the light; opening them each time to see the little blurry figure in her lap get clearer and clearer. Knowing the fuzzy blob was Kuvira, she sighed. "What are you doing up?" She rasped, her eyes blinking a few more times as the image of Kuvira's face sharpened into view.

"I can't sleep." The girl pouted, folding her arms over her chest.

"More like you don't want to go to sleep, right?" Suyin said, raising an eyebrow at Kuvira's guilty smile before yawning and turning her head to look at the pile of papers on the table. It was another one of those nights where she had fallen asleep again while reading the construction contracts for Zaofu. Coarse, dry legalese was just the thing to drain all her energy and knock her out cold.

"What are these?" Kuvira said, as her eyes were drawn to the dark framed glasses lying on Suyin's chest.

Without answering the girl, Suyin looked to the floor, reaching down to pick up the papers that had fallen from her hand.

_'I could’ve sworn I had a pen.'_ Her eyes darted up to the table surface above before looking back to Kuvira with a suspicious eyebrow raised. "hmmm…" Sitting up, she straightened her back against the arm of the couch.

Holding Suyin's glasses on her face, Kuvira stared mesmerized at the new look of the world around her.

Suyin poked the girl in the side to get her attention. "Where did my pen go?"

"I have it!" Kuvira said, thrusting it up in the air as the glasses began to slide from her face.

Suyin took the pen from Kuvira's small hand, noticing the drool and tiny scratch marks in the metal. "Aaaand…you chewed on it." Suyin said, examining the pen before cleaning it off on her shirt.

"Wooo…these are cool." Kuvira ignored Suyin as she fell onto her back between the woman's legs, looking up at the magnified ceiling as though she were stargazing.

Suyin smiled. "Hey, I need those back." She reached out for her glasses, taken back when the little girl sat up and stuck them back on her face in a crooked fashion. Smiling again, Suyin straightened her reading glasses, wedging into a comfortable corner of the couch as she held the document up, obscuring her from Kuvira's view. "You should be in bed…"

"I don't wanna sleep."

"I promise you you're more tired than you think." Suyin said, attempting to read through the sections of the contract agreement she missed; the words already starting to run together, exemplifying her sleep deprivation. Still, she wanted to _at least_ get some work done before Bataar came back from his trip. She knew she'd feel bad if he came back to no progress made.

Kuvira poked her head around the contract to look at Suyin, before tunneling under it, forcing the woman to raise her arms as she made room for the girl.

Suyin sighed, watching Kuvira turn around to look at the documents in her hand. "Ok, you have five more minutes up here." She paused, holding up five fingers to emphasize her point. "Then you're going back to bed, you got it?"

Kuvira stayed silent as her small fingers reached to grab Suyin's hand. With her tongue stuck out from between her teeth, she breathed through her nose, staring with an intense concentration as she inspected the larger hand.

Suyin looked down at the girl playing with her hand, as her mind drifted back to her earliest memories of Kuvira.

She had taken in Kuvira about a year ago, never once thinking she'd pick up a homeless kid off the streets of Ba Sing Se. But there was something special about this little girl, Suyin could see it written in her eyes; she was destined to achieve greatness. She tried forgetting about that little pick-pocketing street kid when she went back to her hotel room, but her mind wouldn't let her. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the bright emerald ones of the little girl staring back at her under a furrowed brow, framed by a dirty face. It wasn't easy getting the girl to come to her, and trust was far out of her reach. It took multiple trips to the same desolate alley, hours of sitting on the ground telling life stories, and many hot meals just to get the girl's brow to loosen a little. But after that, the girl followed her everywhere, taking a tattered blanket to sleep outside the entrance of her hotel. 

By chance, the night she found Kuvira balled up under the blanket outside the hotel, she had been trying to get some air to relieve her mind of restless, sleep depriving thoughts; thoughts wondering if that little girl was safe.

That was when she officially took her in, realizing that the girl's constant silence came from her limited ability to speak.

But the moment that suck out in Suyin's mind, was Kuvira's first bath. It was in that hotel where Suyin washed away all remnants of the lonely street life that came before. The girl sat silent and still, looking down the entire time, not catching the redness in the eyes above or the tears that started to fall from them. At one point, scrubbing the girl's back, Suyin remembered breaking down, lifting a wet hand to her mouth to mute her sobs as she looked at the tiny body below her, knowing the girl couldn't be anymore than three and a half.

Something in her changed that night. She was never the same afterwards. 

From then on, Suyin promised Kuvira that never again would she go back to the life she had before. As long as they were together, her life would be free of hardship.

Suyin made a promise to herself too, that she would make Kuvira the best earth bender she could. Every precious piece of Beifong knowledge would be passed to her, and in the years to come, there would be no telling as to the extent of what she'd be capable of. The determination already set in Kuvira's eyes at such a young age, was enough to guarantee her success in the future.

Coming back to the present, Suyin watched the girl trace the lines of her palm. "What are you doing with my hand?" She smiled as Kuvira shrugged, placing her own palm in the center of Suyin's; her eyes glazing over in wonderment at the size difference.

"When are my hands going to be this big?" Kuvira said, not bothering to look up at Suyin.

"Never…" Suyin laughed when the girl looked back at her with wide eyes. "Relax, I'm just joking with you." She finished, moving her eyes back over to the document she had forgotten about.

"What are this?" Kuvira asked, losing interest in Suyin's hand as she gazed at the paper, trying to read words she couldn't pronounce.

Distracted again from her reading at the girl's voice, Suyin corrected the obvious grammatical mistake. "You mean, what _is_ this?" She smiled; her eyes shifting down to see Kuvira nod her head.

"Just boring adult stuff you won't have to worry about for a long time."

For weeks, Suyin had been busy working through all the requirements for land ownership, making sure Zaofu was adhering to the Earth Kingdom's land codes. Writing requests and reading tirelessly through piles of documents was proving to be the hardest part of building Zaofu; not the constant construction.

"And the signer agrees…blah blah…to the clauses in this contract." Suyin dropped her hand still holding onto the papers. "Ugh…I really should have gotten Bataar to do this part." She finished, raking her other hand over her face. “He has the attention span for this.”

Bringing the papers back up, she looked down at the girl who had gone silent, drifting to sleep with her mouth hanging open. Suyin smirked, using her finger to push Kuvira's jaw closed. "So, this stuff put you to sleep too, huh?"

Letting out a defeated sigh, she took her glasses off, placing them and the papers on the floor. It probably wasn't the wisest move, but at the moment she was too tired to reach for the table that seemed so far away.

Stretching her arms out above her head, she glanced back to the window behind her desk, watching the early morning sun begin to break through.

_'It has definitely been over five minutes'_  She thought, looking down at Kuvira with a smug smile crossing her face.

Nestled between her arms the little girl slept content, each inhale bringing with it a small snore. Kuvira wasn't always the easiest kid to take care of, but she made up for it through moments like these. Finally closing her eyes, Suyin took a deep breath, allowing herself to ease into the void of sleep.

She could finish her work after a few hours of quality sleep.


	2. The Water Tribe

A.N. More little Kuvira

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_The Water Tribe_

_\---------------_

_'Of all places…’_

Suyin gazed out at the half-frozen sea; chunks of ice floating by as they passed through frigid water. At this point she didn’t even want to breathe, every breath drawing freezing air into her nose, turning the back of her throat to ice.

_‘Why couldn’t the conference be held near Zaofu...or somewhere warm?’_

After five days on two airships and a boat, the new leader of a growing city now called Zaofu had made it to the Northern Water Tribe, albeit cold and exhausted. She had yet to see what her face looked like in a mirror. But if it looked anything like how she felt, she didn’t want to see it at all.

She never travelled well. The turbulent airships did nothing to help her sleep, and the boats only swayed her to sickness. _“Earth Benders are the worst travelers”_ Unfortunately, that old, worn out adage seemed to continuously bode true. Many Earth benders just seemed to prefer that their feet stay on the ground.

Suyin stood from the deck bench that only got harder and colder the longer she sat on it. Although despite her personal feeling towards water travel, she had to admit that this boat was certainly much nicer than the ones from her childhood. With new technological advancements, they cut through the water, streamlining to their destination without much rocking back and forth. This particular passenger cruiser, although small, held one hundred and fifty private guest rooms; most outfitted with many of the accommodations a person could find in a hotel. That meant her tiny tag-a-long could have her own bed.

Of course everything was smaller on the boat than on land. The two beds were sort of squashed together in the compact room; the mattresses a touch too firm for Suyin's tastes. Many of the rooms also lacked a window, but, it was probably a good thing for her not to see the sea rocking back and forth.

 “Kuvira.” As the wind’s cool chill passed through her thick coat, Suyin walked across the wooden deck, over to the little girl dressed in a warm green colored parka with white fur lining the hood, matching overalls tucked into her snow boots.

Somehow, they had made it onto the observation deck, after Kuvira incessantly begged to go outside. And now here they were, watching the crystalline city pass before them. Or rather, Suyin was supervising Kuvira, watching the little girl watch the city pass from the ship railing she clang to, hoping the hyperactive child didn’t decide to go for a chilling swim.

A heavy batch of grayish blue clouds passed in front of the sun, its warmth dissipating in an instant, reminding her of the near unbearable water tribe weather. Sure, Zaofu got chilly in the winter months, but never as cold as the water tribe. Suyin could hardly believe people lived out here, among glaciers and constant snow.

“Kuvira?”

The little girl quickly looked back to Suyin approaching her then again to the view before her, not wanting to miss the moment the sun came back, shining through a hole in the clouds; the enthralling sight of rainbow colored buildings glistening in the sunlight fascinated her. Seeing Suyin stop and crouch beside her, Kuvira stuck a hand out with her five tiny fingers spread inches from Suyin’s face; a green mitten dangling from the jacket cuff it was attached to. “Five moe minutes.”

Suyin raised an eyebrow as a small smile came across her face. “You said that ten minutes ago-”

“Five moe.”

“If you can say more right I’ll let you stay.”

Kuvira turned to Suyin with a furrowed brow; her face framed by the white fur on her hood; her nose turning red. “Moe.”

Suyin shook her head. “More.”

“Moo-er.”

Suyin shook her head again, another smile forming as she watched Kuvira’s brow deepen and lips set into a thin scrunched pout.

“Come on, you get another try.”

“…Mo-wr.” The girl’s mouth twisted and contorted in an effort to get the right sound.

“That’s close enough.” Suyin poked Kuvira in the stomach with a smile. “I guess you win.”              

Kuvira smiled back with a nod, springing her butt from side to side a few times in victory as Suyin stood up and leaned over the railing, deciding she might as well take in the view too; her hand finding its way beneath her chin.

The Northern Water Tribe had become a second home to her and her sister; they’d been dragged here so often in the past. When Toph had time off, forcing herself to take a break from work, she would bring her and Lin down to see Aang and Katara. Then, much to their relief, Aang’s family relocated to Republic City, and their days of freezing summer vacations were over. Her and her sister were never happier. A family of Earth Benders certainly didn’t belong in the Water Tribe for long periods of time. And they sure didn’t miss the cold mornings, and beds that felt like a block of ice even after it was supposedly “warmed up”.

Katara used to pick on all of them, Toph especially, wondering why they were wearing sweaters and socks to bed.

The roaring sound of a blaring boat horn split through her ears and reverberated as a hum throughout her body. Suyin hardly felt the moment they stopped but watched as the vessel pulled into the port.

“Come on, we’re here.” Suyin turned to Kuvira and extended her hand.

The little girl took her hand. But before they were off, Suyin leaned over and fitted the mitten back over Kuvira’s exposed hand, then straightened up and started forward, pretending she hadn’t noticed the furrow in the girl’s brow.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Escaping into the warmth of the ship, Suyin moved with Kuvira across the dark blue carpeted hallway. She glanced up spotting the gold-plated sign for the stairs just before they made it to the wooden staircase and turned the corner to go up.

“I wanna do it.” Kuvira wrenched her hand from Suyin's, rushing past the woman to start up the first step on her own.

“Hold the railing.” Suyin watched the girl reach for the rail and stretch her legs up the tall steps one after the other. If it weren’t for the overstuffed parka and snow pants, Kuvira would have been moving faster, maybe even hopping up the steps. Admittedly, some part of Suyin just wanted to pick Kuvira up and make the journey go by quicker. But she held back, letting the girl go up every step on her own…all three flights, ten steps each.

Recognizing the burgundy carpet of their level, Kuvira moved up the last step and turned the corner, running down the hallway.

“Where are you going?” Suyin called out, watching the girl turn back to her and stare. “This way.”

Her tiny feet thumped across the carpet to catch up to Suyin; the woman moving down a stark white hallway. The dim lighting, or _ambiance_ they called it, was the only thing keeping the boat decks from resembling a deserted hospital ward.

_‘304’_ Suyin stopped at the room pulling the key from her coat pocket and twisting it into the lock. “Come on.” She opened the door waiting for Kuvira to rush past her like she usually did, and this instance was no different. The girl ran past her, climbing onto her own bed as Suyin gave a small smile and slid back the adjacent closet door; the front door shutting beside her with a heavy bang. Pulling out a large hard cover suitcase and a smaller one, Suyin straightened up and looked back to the girl swinging her legs back and forth over the edge of the bed.

Kuvira looked over to her with guilty eyes, and then Suyin saw it. The mitten was once again off her hand—in fact, both mittens were off. Suyin rolled her eyes and turned around with the packed suitcases. “Fiiine.” She groaned. “Come on let’s go.”

Hopping off the bed, Kuvira caught up just in time to watch Suyin use her clever trick to open the heavy front door.

With her hands full, Suyin focused her eyes on the door’s metal locking mechanism, sliding her foot a step to the right and back, watching the door open far enough for her to get a foot in and pull it open. “Out you go.”

Kuvira brushed past Suyin and stood in the hallway, waiting as Suyin took a last look into the room. Satisfied nothing was left behind, she set down the large suitcase and reached into her pocket for the key as the door shut beside her, dropping it into a small locked box hanging on the wall beside the door handle.

“I wanna carry one.”

Suyin picked up the suitcase and looked down to the girl beside her. “You do?” She smiled— “Here”—and set the smaller suitcase in front of Kuvira.

Staring with determination at the suitcase that was almost as big as her, she wrapped both hands around the handle and pulled up. “Nggh…” The suitcase didn’t budge. Scrunching her mouth up to her nose, Kuvira tried again. “Errr…” The bottom of the suitcase came a mere inch off the ground before it flopped back down. Nonetheless, she continued.

Suyin stood watching the four-year old’s struggle with a growing smile.

The girl tried everything; to push, lift, and pull, each to no avail.

“Why don’t you try lifting it one more time.”

The frustrated girl looked up, then back to the suitcase. She wrapped her fingers around the handle one last time, digging in for a good grip, before she pulled up; the suitcase coming off the ground a full five inches, even feeling light in her hands.

“Happy now?”

Kuvira looked up to Suyin with shining emerald eyes and a wide grin as she nodded her head.

“Alright let’s go.” Glancing to the metal rimming around the suitcase, Suyin smiled, letting Kuvira bask in the moment’s glory, watching her walk in front with the suitcase, all the way down the hall and the staircase. _‘It shouldn’t be long now.’_

They came down the last step; carpet turning into polished hardwood inlaid with a patterned design. A horde of voices transitioned the atmosphere; silence becoming bustling noise as they moved into the lobby of the main deck. ' ** _No_.** _I thought we were early.'_  Suyin’s eyes caught a large crowd gathered by the open main entrance. _‘Ugh now these people show up. Where were they the rest of the trip?’_

Approaching the mob, Suyin was forced to stop in the back. “Now we wait.” She looked down for Kuvira and was greeted by an empty space beside her. “Kuvira.” Her head whipped from side to side.

“Err…”

Suyin looked up in front at the sound, seeing Kuvira feet ahead of her struggling to lift the suitcase she had forgotten about. “What are you doing up there?” She closed the gap and took the suitcase from the girl’s hands.

“Aw.”

“You carried it long enough. Now stay here, we have to wait.”

“Why?”

“Because there are others ahead of us.”

“…No.” Came the curt reply; the little girl taking off, slipping and sliding through the crowd with ease before Suyin could say wait.

“Kuvira.” Her brow furrowed, but she had to go after her. “Excuse me, sorry…sorry.” Throwing out her apologies, Suyin slowly waded through the crowd towards the exit; the suitcases rubbing against skirts and trousers.

*thunk*

“Ow!”

Suyin cringed at the man’s yelp of pain, feeling bad the moment she felt the suitcase ram into something solid. “Sorry.” She apologized again, turning her shoulders to scoot between a couple talking to one another. Then she heard it— _“Is that Suyin Beifong?”_ — a woman’s voice rising in the crowd, starting a whisper among some.

_“Is she the one with that new city?”_

_“I heard her and the Earth Queen got into it.”_

Suyin sighed, her ears heard it all but at least people were moving out of her way.

A month ago, Bataar warned her this would happen, after her picture was featured in the national paper under the title “Earth Kingdom’s New World Leader”.

That title was the worst, inspiring scandal with its vague conveyance. Needless to say, the Earth Queen wasn’t happy with her new rival and subsequent rumors of her death. But Suyin soon realized the scandal worked in her favor. The following meeting between her and the Queen to settle rumors and abate negative press on the kingdom, would be the one to secure Zaofu’s autonomy. She was never happier to have a definite line finally drawn between them.

Once it was over, Suyin was relieved. Their year of back and forth, demanding this and that of one another, dangerously pushing each others' limits, glaring to keep from growling, was all done with. Transversely dubbing Zaofu “The Metal Clan” helped to solidify that autonomy, thinning her ties to the Earth Kingdom for good.

“…Suyin…”

Continuing to weave through the crowd, eyes darting from person to person, her ears caught Kuvira’s muffled voice. A glimpse of green and white to her left brought her complete attention to a small leg disappearing between a forest of brown and black trousers.

“Suyin…”

There was the tiny voice again, but thankfully closer as sunlight began to touch the tips of her toes, cascading up her legs as she moved in Kuvira’s direction.

_“Hey watch it!”_

Suyin looked up at the man’s voice; her eyes catching the furrowed brow of a patron staring down.

_“You little rat.”_

Squeezing past another person, Suyin moved towards him and stopped. In front of her the little girl stood, stomping on a man’s boot; his stumpy arms swatting at her; Kuvira dodging multiple times before kicking him in the shin with all her might.

_“OW!”_ Grabbing his leg, he cried out. _“You little sh-”_

“Sorry.” Suyin grabbed Kuvira’s arm and yanked her away; the girl swinging and pulling, trying to writhe out of the “stranger’s” grasp. “Stop it.”

The girl halted her struggle, her head shooting up at the voice beside her. “Suyin.” She grinned at the furrowed brow looking down at her as she reached out for the woman’s leg, taking the coat tail into her fist.

“ _Don’t_ do that again.” Suyin’s voice was stern, making sure her words conveyed their disappointment. Picking up the suitcase she had set down, she looked up. Before them sat the metal steps of the ramp, family members smiling and waving on the dock below. Scanning the faces, her eyes froze when they spotted a familiar figure bundled in a heavy southern water tribe coat; her greyish hair glistening in the sun. “Come on.” Even though she felt Kuvira’s iron grip on her coat tail, Suyin still glanced to her side before heading down the ramp towards Katara’s patient smile.

“Come here.” Katara grinned, approaching the young woman with open arms, all but forcing Suyin into a tight warm hug. “It’s good to see you.”

“You too. It’s been awhile.” Suyin pulled back, catching the displeased look on Katara’s face. “…I know...” She averted her eyes.

“Well at least I get the opportunity to see one of you.” Katara started. “Lin has yet to contact me, and your mother…well it’s been touch and go with her.” Waving off her irritation, Katara looked up as a glimmer in the taller woman’s dark hair caught her attention. Slowly, a smile stretched across her lips. “Uh-oh.” 

“What?”

Standing on the tips of her toes, Katara reached up to Suyin’s hair, taking the streak of fading dark hair into her fingers. “It seems the true essence of age is gracing you a little early.”

Suyin’s brow creased. “Thanks for noticing.”

Katara’s eyes fell to hers, and with a genuine smile she took Suyin’s face into her hands, her heels resting back to the floor. “Not here. Just up there.”

“I blame it on her.” Suyin’s eyes shifted down in Kuvira’s direction, as Katara took her hands away.

“Well at this rate, you’ll be grey before you’re fifty.”

“Ugh, don’t jinx me.”

“Psst.”

At the little noise, Katara’s attention dropped to the girl beside Suyin, tugging on her coat. Katara looked up to Suyin and smiled, bending over slightly to meet the young girl. “Oh, and what’s your name?” Katara looked into the uneasy eyes of the little girl staring back at her from underneath the fuzzy hood over her head. “You didn’t tell me you had a daughter.”

Suyin was glad Katara couldn’t see the guilty look that passed over her face as she glanced away, giving a hesitant smile. No one needed to know Kuvira wasn’t hers.

Katara reached out to pat Kuvira on the head, but was stunned when the girl flinched away and reached out for Suyin’s leg, moving behind the other woman; her eyes staring up at Katara with an angry glare.

“Oh, ok then.” Katara smiled and straightened back up.

“Give it some time. Kuvira’s not the friendliest kid in the world, but she’ll come around.” Suyin looked down to Kuvira. “Right?” She poked Kuvira on the head to get her attention. “You’ll be nice _, right_?” She raised her eyebrow.

Kuvira looked over to Katara’s genuine smile then back up to Suyin and weakly nodded.

“Well, you can start by saying hi.” With her hand, Suyin gently pushed Kuvira in front of Katara; the girl’s heels digging themselves into the snow. “Say hi.”

Kuvira looked back to Suyin and turned, starting to waddle back over to her, but she was stopped when Suyin picked her up and turned her around to face Katara once again. “Say. Hi.”

Listening to Suyin, the four-year old jutted out her right hand, imitating something she'd seen Suyin do many times before. 

Assuming the girl was asking for a hand shake, Katara smiled and reached down taking the tiny mitted hand. “Well that’s a very… _formal_ way to say hi. But it'll do.” Katara looked up at Suyin with a raised eyebrow, to which the other woman simply gave her a smile and a shrug. 

Kuvira let go and turned around walking back to Suyin.

“Thank you.” Suyin took a hand out of her coat pocket and rubbed Kuvira’s head as the girl came to her side. “That wasn’t hard, was it?”

Kuvira shook her head just enough for Suyin to smile.

“You didn’t have to take us in. We could’ve stayed at a hotel. It would’ve been fine.” Suyin looked up to Katara.

“Nonsense, you’re family. You think I’d let you just stay anywhere while you’re here, when I have a perfectly good house with a little too much space.”

“Thanks.”

“It’s not needed.” Katara smiled. “I get lonely up here anyways, since Aang spends a lot of time in Republic City.” She turned her back to Suyin. “Now come on, I’ve got a surprise.”

“A…surprise?”

Walking across the busy dock with both suitcases and Kuvira holding onto her arm, Suyin followed Katara to a makeshift parking lot with only two cars and a few other empty spaces.

“Ok let’s see…where are those keys…”

Suyin’s eyes went wide in horror. _‘Surely she can’t mean-’_

“Found them.” Katara pulled out the key to a Satomobile.

_‘Oh no…’_

Stopping by a grey Satomobile, Katara turned to them. “Here it is. This is the surprise.”

Suyin hoped her face at least tried to fake a smile, while memories of her childhood returned. Even back in Republic City, no one ever wanted Katara to drive. Toph always made it their punishment if her and her sister did something wrong. But rarely did her mother get into the car with Katara. She likened the ride to “one of the scariest moments of my life.”

“Wow…” Suyin was almost at a loss of words, staring at the beautiful convertible-top death trap before them. “How did yo- uh…w-why did you buy a car?”

“Well, we’re slowly getting more paved roads around here.” Katara turned to the car. “And I just thought, why not. The family would love it when they visit, and I can get out and go places.” Katara paused. “Besides, I find a nice relaxing drive, calming.”

_‘Nobody else does.’_ Suyin cleared her throat. “Well let’s get to the house as quickly as possible.” Her words rushed out before she could think.

“Why? I was going to take the long route, thought you might enjoy seeing the new advancements the Water Tribe is making.”

Suyin tried to disguise her terror, by turning her face away from Katara. “Well then, we better get going before traffic gets bad.” She looked down to Kuvira. “Is the back seat unlocked?”

“Oh, hold on a minute.”

Suyin chewed the corner of her lip watching Katara move to the car’s back door and find the silver lock.

With her mitted hand, Katara tried pushing the key in, looking absolutely confounded when it wouldn’t go.

“Mmm…” Katara tried the key again, to no avail. She looked down, examining the key. Finding the ridges facing the opposite way, she gave a deflated sigh and smiled. “Oh boy…” She glanced to Suyin with a chuckle. “Had it turned upside down the whole time. Guess it’s been awhile since I’ve driven anything.”

Suyin tried to crack a smile.

*click*

“Ok, good to go.” Katara opened the back door and looked at Suyin, who seemed to be holding onto Kuvira’s shoulder a little too tight. “Are you coming?”

“Oh…yes.”

Katara smiled. “10 years ago I would have been surprised to hear anything but a “whatever” from you.”

Suyin passed the comment by without a response. Katara was right, she could feel the change within herself. Reality hit hard when she saw Junior's eyes looking into hers just after he was born. Joy and anxiety were the most prominent emotions that came to mind when she recollected that moment.

Almost a year later, and she could say she finally had a bearing on parenthood. Something she found interesting was Kuvira’s relationship with Junior. After he was born, she would often find the little girl peeking in his crib, poking his side with a tiny finger through the wooden posts. At first she told Kuvira to stop, but then Junior started giggling, making little grabs for Kuvira’s fingers.

Everything started well. The girl often sat by her side in the nursery, coloring, napping, or building fortresses out of blocks. She was always there, until she wasn’t. As months passed, Kuvira’s demeanor changed. Now she wouldn’t go into the nursery. She often stopped at the door and looked in, staring for a moment before she walked away.

Suyin remembered how fear engulfed her when she discovered Kuvira was missing from the estate just days later. She ran to every corner, searching room after room to find each empty. Then a guard came to her, saying he had seen a small girl boarding the train down to the city. Oh she had never been angrier, blowing up at him for letting a child venture onto the train alone; his hazel eyes wide as saucers when she was done yelling.

Her feet ran through the unfinished city. She didn’t care if some of Zaofu’s few residents saw their leader running frantic, searching alleys and construction zones.

A commanding squeak of “Moe” halted her feet and turned her attention to a small noodle shop set up for the construction workers. And that’s where she found her, sitting at a table with a booster seat beneath her butt, a coloring book, a furrow in her tiny brow, and four small stacked bowls all empty of their contents; her tongue sticking out as she ground the crayon into the paper with her scribbling fist.

Kuvira wasn’t happy to see her there. It took a lot of coaxing, patience, and a couple bowls of noodles for them both to tire the defiant girl.

When the girl fell asleep in the chair, Suyin picked her up and they returned home. That night, Bataar gave an educated guess of the reason for Kuvira’s odd behavior; She was jealous, feeling left out since the coming of the baby.

Letting Kuvira tag-a-long to the Water Tribe, Suyin hoped to remedy the girl’s feelings of abandonment.

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A.N. No it doesn’t just end there. The next part just needs a little more work.

 


End file.
